Director – Center of Professional Excellence

Role Overview

• Supports strategic planning and execution of the Center for Professional Excellence portfolio in alignment with GSA’s Strategic Plan.
• Coordinates professional development initiatives that serve geoscientists across career stages and employment sectors, ensuring relevance to industry, government, nonprofit, and academic career pathways.
• Works collaboratively across departments to integrate professional excellence, ethics, integrity, and career readiness into GSA programming and services.
• Partners with Communications & Marketing to strengthen branding, positioning, and targeted outreach for CPE programs.
• Helps lead the development, implementation, and scaling of GSA’s credentialing program as a core professional standard for the geosciences.
• Collaborates with internal teams, subject matter experts, and external partners to ensure credentials reflect best practices, workforce needs, and public trust considerations.
• Cultivates and upholds high standards of scientific and societal integrity across all GSA activities.
• Implements and maintains GSA’s Code of Ethics & Professional Conduct, Events Code of Conduct, and related integrity policies.
• Manages GSA’s On To the Future (OTF) program, ensuring it effectively advances the geoscience talent pipeline.
• Serves as Principal Investigator (PI) or Co-PI on federal grant proposals as appropriate.
• Identifies, develops, and supports competitive grant applications that advance professional excellence, credentialing, ethics, integrity, and workforce development priorities.
• Demonstrates strong financial acumen in planning, monitoring, and managing budgets associated with assigned programs and grants.
• Develops and coordinates training and guidance for staff, volunteers, and leaders related to ethics, integrity, credentialing, and professional conduct.
• Serves as a trusted internal resource on professional pathways, workforce trends, and integrity standards.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required; Advanced degree strongly preferred. Study in geoscience, science education, workforce development, public policy, or related field strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated understanding of geoscience career pathways, including academic (PhD and tenure-track), industry, and government trajectories.
• Experience managing complex programs with multiple stakeholders, timelines, and deliverables.
• Strong people leadership skills, including coaching staff, supporting team development, and cultivating a positive, collaborative work environment.
• Proven financial literacy, including budgeting, forecasting, and reporting.
• Ability and willingness to serve as a Principal Investigator on federal and /or other grants.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Sound judgment, discretion, and ability to maintain confidentiality.
• Highest ethical standards and a demonstrable commitment to integrity and professionalism.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and/or Google Workspace; ability to learn new systems quickly.
• Experience in maintaining scientific integrity and working with broad audiences is preferred.

Benefits

• Excellent benefits, including medical, dental, and PTO
• Paid holidays
• Life insurance
• 403(b) retirement
• Opportunities for professional development
• Additional recognized time off including Juneteenth and Indigenous Peoples Day in 2026